


Good Things Are On The Rise

by OTPGirl



Category: Nightmare Time- Team StarKid, The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals - Team StarKid
Genre: Alice notices, Bill is gay and has a crush, M/M, Nightmare Time Ep 1 spoilers, Watcher World spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-27
Updated: 2020-10-27
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:42:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,004
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27222169
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OTPGirl/pseuds/OTPGirl
Summary: Bill and Alice have survived Watcher World and are free to leave, but they're not the only ones.
Relationships: Bill Woodward/Sullivan Barker, Bill Woodward/The Barker
Comments: 2
Kudos: 17





	Good Things Are On The Rise

Bill and Alice Woodworth trudge to their car, trying to shake off the thick purple sludge as they move. They’re not the only ones in the parking lot, but they do seem to be the only ones who know what’s going on. All around them guests look to each other, confusion filling their eyes as a purple haze fades from them. Even the guests that don’t have the purple glint seem to be confused, a child crying as the Blinky doll in his hands dissolves into the same purple goop that everyone is covered in. 

Thankfully, it seems like anyone that was in the theme park was washed out just like Bill and Alice were, so they don’t have to worry about having anyone’s death on their hands. They’re almost to the car when a voice calls out to Bill.

“Excuse me, sir.” The voice is missing some of its grandeur and sounds more human than it did earlier that day. None the less, Bill recognizes said voice. The father and daughter turn and see the carnival barker jogging towards them. 

“Umm, can I help you?” Bill takes a step forward, placing himself between the man and Alice. Who knows what this man might do. For all Bill knows, he’s going to be angry at them for getting rid of Blinky. 

“You’re Bill, right? And- and Alice.” He looks between them expectantly, and all Bill can do is nod. He hopes he doesn’t have to kick this guys head. It’s been a long day, and he just wants to go home. “The two of you set us free. Thank you, thank you so much.” 

“Wait, what?” This is not what Bill was expecting.

“I’m being rude. I’m sorry. Um- my name is Sullivan.” He holds his hand out for Bill to shake. “I’ve been trapped here, at Watcher World, since the summer of 1980.” 

“I’m sorry, did you just say 1980? That’s-” Bill is stoped from having to do the math by the barke- Sullivan doing it for him.

“Forty years. I look good for my sixties, don’t I?” Sullivan is clearly trying to lighten the mood with a joke, but he’s not wrong. Bill never would have guessed that the man in front of him was in his sixties. He looks barely older than Alice. 

“You look amazing. That’s...um… I mean, ya know. For being sixty.” Bill’s cheeks burn, and his mouth feels dry as he tries to speak. He hears Alice giggle from behind him, but ignores her. Sullivan seems to pay no mind to how Bill trips awkwardly over his words. 

“Blinky stopped me, stopped all of us from aging. When he took control, we no longer needed to do things like eat, or sleep, or anything like that. It was just being his puppet, all day every day for forty years.” Sullivan seems to draw in on himself ever so slightly as he talks, his shoulders slumping. “I could feel every minute pass, could feel my body move without me telling it to, could feel someone else looking out from my eyes.”  
“I- That sounds horrible. I’m sorry.” Bill reaches out, placing a hand on the younger…. older?... other man’s shoulder. They make eye contact, and Sullivan gives him a small, genuine smile. 

“You saved me from that, Bill.” Bill can feel a connection start to form between them, but it only lasts for a moment. Sullivan forces a large, clearly strained smile across his face. “Anyway, I should let you and your daughter get going. Maybe I’ll see you around sometime.” He looks like he wants to say something else, but holds him back. 

He steps away, and Bill’s hand falls uselessly to his side. For some reason, Bill doesn’t want him to go. Would hang around a little bit longer if Bill asked? No. That’s ridiculous. He probably has… things to do. Bill shakes his head, watching as Sullivan walks away, before turning to Alice. 

“Let’s go home.” He wraps an arm around her shoulder, leading her to the nearby car. He glances over his shoulder one more time. Alice rolls her eyes and ducks out of her dad’s grip. She starts walking away from the car and in the direction Sullivan walked off in. “Alice, what are you doing?” 

“You can thank me later, dad.” She calls back to him before catching up to Sullivan. Bill watches as she says something to him, he can’t quite make out what it is, and Sullivan seems surprised. He brings a hand up to rub the back of his neck and shakes his head. Alice doesn’t take that for an answer, or maybe that was the answer she was looking for. Either way, she grabs his arm and pulls him towards the car. Towards Bill. 

“Sullivan here needs a ride to Hatchetfield. I figured we could give him a ride, since we’re going there anyway.” Alice explains, pulling the shocked man past Bill and shoving him in the passenger seat. Bill knows that he should object, they don’t know him after all, but he can’t find it in himself to do so. Alice closes the door, winking at her dad before climbing into the back seat herself. 

Less than an hour later, Sullivan is asleep in the passenger seat, and Bill can’t help but watch him out of the corner of his eyes. He tries to convince himself that it’s a safety thing. He doesn’t want to give this stranger the opportunity to do anything to hurt him or his daughter, but deep down, he knows it’s not. It’s something completely different. He glances in the rearview mirror and sees Alice playing on her phone. She must sense that he’s looking at her because she looks up, making eye contact with him in the mirror. Her eyes flick over to Sullivan’s back before back over to her dad, giving him a knowing smile. 

Bill guesses more than one good thing has come out of their trip to Watcher World. 

**Author's Note:**

> The name Sullivan was chosen very intentionally. It is an Irish name meaning "little dark eye". Because, ya know, Blinky, eyes. 
> 
> Also yes, his last name is Barker. Blinky thought it was funny to make the guy with the last name Barker a carnival barker. 
> 
> Come talk to me on Tumblr:   
> Ijustwantjohnmcnamaratobehappyok


End file.
